


Lucky Fox

by Catharsystemic



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Crack, Hybrids, Instafamous animals, Kitsune, Kitsune!Yuta, M/M, Slice of Life, Student!Taeil, Students, Urban Legends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-31 16:54:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17853503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catharsystemic/pseuds/Catharsystemic
Summary: Taeil encounters a strange white fox in need of some love.  In showing a little kindness, his luck begins to change in unexpected ways.





	Lucky Fox

Kitsune were the stuff of legend and imagination. So no one in the quiet university neighbourhood saw the little white fox slipping unobtrusively between cars and darting into the shrubbery. Many of the residents who did see it mistook it for a large white cat. It certainly looked like one with its twitching snout, triangular ears and long, exquisitely plumed tail. It was a he. And he was tired. He wanted to find somewhere safe to sleep until he felt strong enough to change form. The bike rack and dumpster area he had seen next to the apartment complex looked ideal. Of course it would stink, he thought, delicately twitching his nose but beggars couldn't be choosers.

And that was where the red headed student found him in the late evening, cowering away from the local stray foxes hissing at the usurper in their territory.

It was the screaming that caught his attention. An eerie, high pitched screech from behind the dumpsters next to the bike racks in Taeils apartment complex. The foxes must be screwing again and he didn't want his bike being marked out as the prime orgy hotspot of the local area. 

"Get away from my bike, you little shits!" He ran towards the racks, waving widly in an attempt to disperse the canine love-shack. As the dirty orange miscreants scattered in all directions , they revealed what they had been howling and snapping at: a pure white fox that seemed to glow under the streetlights next to the dumpsters. 

"Oh wow, you're definitely something special, aren't you?" Taeil breathed. He must be an albino or some kind of recessive gened fox. An anomaly. His friends in the science department would probably love it. It was definitely a fox though, too big to be a cat and too finely built to be a dog. Those other little bastards were picking on it and his heart went out to the creature. It was covered in grazes and bites, matted blood and dirt marring the beautiful white of its fur. He might be able persuade Johnny to help him trap it, he thought. His housemate was only a few scant metres away in their shared appartment. But odds were the fox would be gone by the time they could come up with a catbox or cage. So throwing all caution to the wind he hunched a distance away, and tentatively offered his hand for the fox to sniff. 

The fox eyed him warily, before edging forward imperceptibly to nose at the fingers and palm held towards him. The hand smelt of cocoa butter and beyond that there was a light hint of cologne. It smelt homely and safe and the owner of the hand had a bright eyed, open face. He moved further a little more. 

"Don't bite, don't bite, please don't bite. " Taeil muttered nervously. The thing looked like it understood somehow, gazing up at him with soft brown eyes. Unwinding his navy scarf he gently dropped it over the animal before reaching over to pick up the bundle of wool and fur. It's slender body was wrapped as securely and cradled against Taeils chest in the makeshift blanket. The kitsune could feel a nervous, erratic heartbeat as Taeil went towards his block and let himself in with his keyfob.

In hindsight, this probably wasn't one of his best ideas, cuddling a feral animal, letting it nose at his hoodie and his neck. It could have fleas, or mites or rabies. Probably all of them. Johnny would go mad. But it wasn't out of character to befriend some stray animal or lost creature and try to take it home. Even as a child he would bring home several wild animals in the hope he could tame them and persuade them to live with him. 

"Darling, they don't belong in houses. They want to be free and live outside." His mother had always explained gently once the creature was rehabilitated enough to be set free but a tearful Taeil was unwilling to see his new best friend leave forever. 

"Don't bite my face. Or anywhere else. But especially not my face. I'd have to rely on my personality to attract people then." The white fox was a surprisingly good listener. "Urgh, Johnny is definitely going to kill me." He muttered as he let himself through his front door. 

"Johnny. " Taeil deliberately elongated all the syllables as he shucked off his shoes, "don't get angry or anything..."

Game night was clearly in full swing, as Taeil carefully stepped over several extra pairs of sneakers and made out a pile of pizza boxes and empty bottles illuminated by the glow of the TV on the coffee table. 

"What have you done now? It better not be another rug you found on the street. That last thing smelt like a thousand desperate wanks." Johnny was sat on the couch with Donghyuck and Jaemin, the two undergrads he had acquired, seemingly to have someone to game with and actually beat. Tonight it was Call of Duty and Johnny was on a winning streak and unwilling to look up. His eyes were firmly fixed on the TV. 

" Errmm... it's comparable." Johnny finally deigned to look at him and the ball of fluff cuddling into him. 

" Jesus Christ Taeil! What is that! Did you bring a wild animal into our home!?" The reaction to foxy was predictable and Johnny shot several feet into the air.

"Taeil, it's a fox. It's probably got rabies or something. What if it pisses everywhere?" The fox actually looked affronted at the temerity of the overlarge human and gave an imperceptible huff. After several seconds of deliberation, Johnny fearfully extended his fingers towards the pointed muzzle before reaching under to scratch at its chin. Johnny did soften a little at the sight of the wide slanted eyes and fluffy triangular ears peering out from the mass of worn blue wool. 

"I have a day off tomorrow. We can take little fluffy to the vets then." The two undergrads smirked at the very definite lack of bite Johnny had, contrary to his height and breadth. 

"Little fluffy?" Taeil reached for one of the beers as a pretext to avoid laughing in Johnny's face.

"He needs a name. Is it a he, d'ya think?" For all his attempts at being the responsible adult of the home, Johnny had become immediately enamoured of the new apartment pet. 

"Turn it upside down and look at its butt" Hyuck mumbled through a mouthful of pizza. Donghyuck was the oddest of the oddballs Johnny had acquired. Most of his suggestions ranged from the mildly quirky to the downright insane and sociopathic. 

"Hyuck. I'm lucky I managed to pick it up and not lose a hand. I am not going to die of rabies after he scratches me to death for trying to get a good look at his balls." 

Hyucks eyes lit up at the prospect of chaos. "Can I please, please write your obituary if that happens?"

It was better just to ignore Donghyuck. "I was thinking of calling him Nari"

"Isn't that a girls name?" Jaemin chimed in. 

"Don't inflict your conventional gender norms on my baby" he played with its ears . Nari really was a friendly little thing, clearly used to humans and contact. Most likely he was a domesticated wild animal, something unusual bought from a zoo and tamed. 

"It stays in your room. That way if he pisses anywhere, it'll come out of your side of the security deposit." Johnny made a final, desperate stab at authority before setting up another game. 

I'm housetrained bitch, thought the kitsune grumpily as it leant into the short, nice smelling one. Taeil? That was his name. This place would do nicely. He'd move on eventually, once he was well enough. 

"I think there's some chicken and rice in the fridge. Don't worry, Taeyong made it. And we can get those scratches all clean." Taeil crooned quietly in his soothing voice, wandering around the kitchen and gathering the things he needed . " I think I have a box you can sleep in. " 

Nari had made himself at home. The Amazon box had been rejected with a contemptuous sniff and after submitting grudgingly to having the scratches disinfected he had curled up on the end of Taeils bed. He would definitely like it here, he thought as he inched up next to a freshly showered Taeil who smelt even nicer now and had soft hands for petting and a soft voice for narrating what he was watching on his laptop.

Life continued on its usual fashion after Nari. And that included lectures, essays, drinking and going to Lucky Fox Coffee which was Taeils favourite cafe and since the arrival of Nari had taken on a special significance. He'd regularly come in early to work on essays and abuse the wifi and the decently priced coffee. The ambience was perfect and it had that aesthetic beloved by influencers: dark wood, gently streaming sunlight and the right mix of smells. And Taeil was in his happy place, his usual corner seat by the window and his usual order of a caramel latte. Plus Ten had not been lying about the adorable new staff member he'd described as the perfect mix of hot and cute. Said barista had arrived around the same time Nari has made his presence felt in Taeils life. Right now he was whiling away the minutes waiting for Johnny admiring the man behind the counter. The way his hair shone a soft honey blonde, his dazzling smile, the smattering of artfully unmatched silver piercings in both ears. He even made scratching at something under his sleeves sexy. 

"Nari stays." Johnny announced, throwing himself down into the chair opposite Taeil. "You know how many people have asked me out since they saw me cuddling him on instagram. A shit ton! People love animals!" Johnny being a kind hearted bastard deep down had eventually softened and put his considerable talents as a photographer towards setting Nari up with several beautifully shot social media pages. The fox now had more followers than their entire friend circle combined. 

"Seo Youngho. You are not pimping out my dog." Taeil had become surprisingly protective of his fur baby in a short space of time. And the little fox had been spectacularly indulged by both flatmates with whatever was leftover from their combined student loans and what johnny made when he actually got paid for his photography gigs. 

"Technically, I'm pimping myself out." Johnny straightened his jacket and preened slightly. "Nari is just set dressing. Anyway, I have to go. I'm seeing Taeyong and his Twitter is mostly just photos of his dog."

"Coffee on the house". The white-blonde barista interrupted placing a fresh latte in front of him and moving to take away the mostly empty cup. He was even better looking close up, lean, slim and tall enough to make Taeil happy.

"Hang on, why?" Taeils luck was never that good. Handsome men simply didn't give him free drinks. 

"Oh. You're our 500th customer. You get free drinks for a week!" The barista - Yuta according to his name tag replied

"And for his best friend?" Johnny shot the man his most winning smile, one that would make lesser men melt. 

"Standard price. Sorry." Yuta carefully arranged the empty cups in his hands, highlighting long fingers and silver rings. "Good fortune only goes so far". He added giving Taeil a wink that he'd find obnoxious coming from available else. 

"Lucky bastard, no one gives me free anything." Grumbled Johnny, eyeing the retreating form. "He's really cute. Wonder if he's a dog person?"

"I have a feeling he is." In the foam there was the careful outline of the Lucky Fox mascot in cinnamon.

**Author's Note:**

> I just had this idea and sorry Yukittyzens, I really do see him more as a fox than a cat. 
> 
> Special love to Tran xx 
> 
> I can be found on Twitter and CC under Catharsystemic.
> 
> Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes and for how choppy it got at the end. I badly need a grammar wiz beta.


End file.
